Piroplasms in brown hyaenas (Parahyaena brunnea) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) in Namibia and South Africa are closely related to Babesia lengau

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：Richard E.J. Burroughs ; Barend L. Penzhorn ; Ingrid Wiesel…
• 关键词：Babesia lengau ; Crocuta ; Hyaena ; Namibia ; Parahyaena ; South Africa
• 刊名：Parasitology Research
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：February 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：116
• 期：2
• 页码：685-692
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Biomedical and Life Sciences
• 刊物主题：Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Immunology;
• 出版者：Springer Berlin Heidelberg
• ISSN：1432-1955
• 卷排序：116

文摘

The objective of our study was identification and molecular characterization of piroplasms and rickettsias occurring in brown (Parahyaena brunnea) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) from various localities in Namibia and South Africa. Whole blood (n = 59) and skin (n = 3) specimens from brown (n = 15) and spotted hyaenas (n = 47) were screened for the presence of Babesia, Theileria, Ehrlichia and Anaplasma species using the reverse line blot (RLB) hybridization technique. PCR products of 52/62 (83.9%) of the specimens hybridized only with the Theileria/Babesia genus-specific probes and not with any of the species-specific probes, suggesting the presence of a novel species or variant of a species. No Ehrlichia and/or Anaplasma species DNA could be detected. A parasite 18S ribosomal RNA gene of brown (n = 3) and spotted hyaena (n = 6) specimens was subsequently amplified and cloned, and the recombinants were sequenced. Homologous sequence searches of databases indicated that the obtained sequences were most closely related to Babesia lengau, originally described from cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus). Observed sequence similarities were subsequently confirmed by phylogenetic analyses which showed that the obtained hyaena sequences formed a monophyletic group with B. lengau, Babesia conradae and sequences previously isolated from humans and wildlife in the western USA. Within the B. lengau clade, the obtained sequences and the published B. lengau sequences were grouped into six distinct groups, of which groups I to V represented novel B. lengau genotypes and/or gene variants. We suggest that these genotypes cannot be classified as new Babesia species, but rather as variants of B. lengau. This is the first report of occurrence of piroplasms in brown hyaenas.